Genomic and proteomic technologies play an important role in drug discovery, molecular diagnostics and practice of medicine in the post-genomic era—the first decade of the 21st century. Analysis of different levels of gene expression in healthy and diseased tissues by proteomic/genomic approaches is as important as the detection of mutations and polymorphisms at the genomic level and may be of more value in designing new therapies. Cell specific proteomic and genomic studies require highly reliable and preferably low cost technology that allows separating specific cell types from normally heterogeneous tissues such as brain tissue.
Cell specific sorting/capture technology is a prerequisite for precise characterization of the specific cell types for understanding their function, regulation of the metabolism and drug testing. There are two main types of devices for isolation of specific cell types laser-capture microdissection (LCM) and fluorescence assisted cell sorting (FACS). Besides the high cost of these devices, each of them has specific limitations. LCM performs cell and tissue collection using fixed tissues that often affects the quality of biological material such as RNA. FACS requires fluorescent labels and works with dissociated cells. It is very difficult to dissociate adult tissues without significant cell damage (e.g. Lobo et al., Nat Neurosci. 2006 Mar.; 9(3):443-52. Epub 2006 Feb. 19).